South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald Beatty is a former state House member. So is James Lockemy, chief judge of the S.C. Court of Appeals, the state’s second-highest court.
The road from the State House to the courthouse historically has been an easy one, as The Nerve has previously reported. Last week, the legislature, which has 52 lawyer-lawmakers, or 30 percent of the 170-member body, continued their tradition of nepotism in the latest round of judicial elections.